sus
Moderator
Since Stan is promising to show us his rosy cheeks soon, I think it's time to talk about the front, the face.
The front stage of social life, the space where so much of dramatic action occurs. The public persona, the mask.
And of course any other meanings/resonances of the front. The front line, the shock absorber, the first to feel the heat.
One possibility is that our cycle of selves is a cycle of fronts—roles and behaviors, ecological niches filled with action algorithms that, outside-inward, shape our internal mood. Smile to feel happy; fake it until you make it. Or that our cycle of selves is a rotation of moods, our weather forecasts for our immediate prospects, each giving rise to a different front. The front reflects and protects and acts on the basis of the the world-diagnosis that is mood.
Goffman is our best guide here.
The front stage of social life, the space where so much of dramatic action occurs. The public persona, the mask.
And of course any other meanings/resonances of the front. The front line, the shock absorber, the first to feel the heat.
One possibility is that our cycle of selves is a cycle of fronts—roles and behaviors, ecological niches filled with action algorithms that, outside-inward, shape our internal mood. Smile to feel happy; fake it until you make it. Or that our cycle of selves is a rotation of moods, our weather forecasts for our immediate prospects, each giving rise to a different front. The front reflects and protects and acts on the basis of the the world-diagnosis that is mood.
Goffman is our best guide here.
Different cultures give quite a bit different weight to protecting the front, avenging the face, upholding appearances and reputation. Southern aristocratic/plantation society—a British immigrant offspring—is known for its honor culture, as are the Japanese.When we watch a television wrestler gouge, foul, and snarl at his opponent we are quite ready to see that, in spite of the dust, he is, and knows he is, merely playing at being the "heavy" [ie heel], and that in another match he may be given the other role, that of clean-cut wrestler, and perform this with equal verve and proficiency. We seem less ready to see, however, that while such details as the number and character of the falls may be fixed beforehand, the details of the expressions and movements used do not come from a script but from command of an idiom, a command that is exercised from moment to moment with little calculation or forethought.